The Forgotten Warrior/Chapter 5
Chapter description :Sandstorm greets Jayfeather and tells him that she and other cats have found cobwebs for him. Jayfeather scents Cherrypaw and Molepaw being the cats carrying the rest of the cobwebs. When the two apprentices come into the den, Briarlight starts to purr loudly, and responds to the gray tabby that she wishes he could see them; according to her, they are walking cobwebs. Molepaw says that Sandstorm lifted a log for him and his sister to collect their cobwebs from, and Briarlight offers to untangle the cobwebs, and warns them to not step on the burdock root. Cherrypaw queries Briarlight about her legs and not being able to walk, and Briarlight admits it is laborous, but it doesn't pain her. Molepaw blurts that Bumblestripe says that she is the bravest cat in all of the Clans, and this leaves Briarlight a bit embarrassed. While she untangles the cobwebs, Sandstorm questions Jayfeather if he is overworked, and if he needs an apprentice. Jayfeather is irked, still having youth, and points out that Briarlight is very useful but doesn't want an apprentice. :Jayfeather asks Sandstorm to find Sorreltail for him, and halts when he scents lots of cats and hears loud pawsteps, and from what he can discern there are three cats: Brightheart, Foxleap, and Rosepetal. Jayfeather asks them if they want Cherrypaw and Molepaw, and that they were being untangled, and Rosepetal replies, saying that they are going out for a training session and wanted to teach them Brightheart's altered battle tactics, on Firestar's orders. Moments later the two apprentices emerge from the medicine den, ready to train. The five converse together for a bit, and leave. Jayfeather hears a hunting patrol leave and pass by Thornclaw and his patrol. Brambleclaw, as deputy, asks for the senior warrior's report, in which Thornclaw says that WindClan is very jumpy at the moment. :Thornclaw continues, telling them that WindClan was accusing ThunderClan of crossing the borders and tells them that Sedgewhisker was leading the patrol, that she is a decent cat, so maybe they have a valid argument, which makes Brambleclaw decide to tell Firestar. Meanwhile, Sorreltail is lingering outside the medicine den to wait for Jayfeather, and the medicine cat goes inside to inspect her since she is pregnant. He is worried about her having kits because she is getting older, and just then Briarlight comes over to watch Jayfeather check over the pregnant queen. Briarlight asks if she will be alright and Jayfeather responds by saying that only her hips are a bit stiff. Sorreltail tells him that Leafpool has given her exercises to keep the joints flexible. Jayfeather hisses that Leafpool is not the medicine cat any longer, but Sorreltail objects, affronted, by saying that Leafpool is her best friend, so she will always listen to her no matter what. :Jayfeather finally follows Sorreltail out and listens to the goings-on in camp; Dovewing had just returned from a hunting patrol, and went to share some prey with Hazeltail and Graystripe, Dustpelt was leading a hunting patrol of Leafpool, Ivypool, and Poppyfrost, and Jayfeather senses Poppyfrost's excitement at doing warrior duties again. Suddenly, there is commotion at the top of the hollow. Berrynose identifies the yowls as his kits', and the other's as a fox's, and everyone is terrified. Firestar, Cloudtail, Brackenfur, and Graystripe sprint with him to come to the apprentices' aid. Dovewing is shocked because she didn't hear it coming. Jayfeather hears Briarlight drag herself to the entrance and ask what is going on, and Jayfeather replies that there is a fox. Briarlight is also scared for the young apprentices, and goes to get some herbs for when they return. Jayfeather is scared by what Dovewing said. :Moments later, the battle and shrieking ends. Jayfeather can scent and hear that Brightheart and Rosepetal are limping and Foxleap is bloody. The medicine cat wonders where the apprentices are, but luckily, they are in camp at the moment and are fine. Molepaw is excited and relieved and tells everyone that the fox nearly ate them up and that a cat came and scared it off, confusing Firestar, who asks if it was either of their mentors or Brightheart. Cherrypaw and Molepaw reply with a no, and said that another cat came, hissed at the fox, and the fox ran away. Firestar still says that he didn't see any other cat, and Brackenfur says it seems unlikely. Berrynose agrees with them and scolds his kits for making up stories about something so dangerous. :Sandstorm tells the apprentices that they had a big scare, but shouldn't be making up mysterious cats, but Cherrypaw protests that they weren't kidding, and Molepaw stands up for his sister. Jayfeather senses that they are telling the truth and that Firestar is, too. The Clan leader asks the apprentices what the cat was like, and Molepaw confesses that they never saw it clearly because they were hiding in a bramble thicket and they couldn't smell the cat over the scent of fox, plus the other cats. Firestar decides to ask the other warriors if they noticed anything of the sort while Jayfeather takes the apprentices to his den to check them out for injuries. :Cherrypaw snaps that they are fine, but Jayfeather takes them in anyways. He finds that Briarlight has been treating the injuries of Brightheart, Rosepetal, and Foxleap, and she tells Jayfeather the status of Brightheart, and gets out of his way, stating Foxleap's condition as she does so. Jayfeather examines the warrior's wounds, and decides to put burdock root on it, but he needs to rest for a few days and not leave camp. Cherrypaw is nervous and wonders who her temporary mentor will be, since she doesn't want to be stuck in camp and missing out on her apprentice curriculum. :Molepaw jokes that she could do the elders' ticks, and then squeals to Cherrypaw to get her claws out of his fur. Foxleap scolds them and tells Cherrypaw that he had already asked Cloudtail, and then Cherrypaw is satisfied. Rosepetal tells Jayfeather that she is just scratched a bit and some fur is lost from her side. The scratches are soon determined to be shallow. Jayfeather plasters marigold to the wounds and declares that Rosepetal can continue her duties, thankfully. Jayfeather praises Briarlight for all of her help and tells her to do her exercises. The medicine cat then inquires casually to Cherrypaw and Molepaw about the mysterious cat. Molepaw refuses to tell him and his excuse is that he thinks Jayfeather will say he and Cherrypaw are lying. :Jayfeather is angry and asks them to try him. Molepaw then says he doesn't remember much and that Brightheart sent them deep into the brambles to evade the attack. Jayfeather pretends to check out Molepaw, and delves into the young tom's memories with his powers. He sees that they were practicing battle moves, and when the fox came, the two apprentices were sent under the brambles, like they had said. The siblings had exchanged scared conversation and see that the fox comes back and looks for them. They hear the mysterious cat's hissing, and the fox retreats. Molepaw suddenly squeaks that Jayfeather is pressing too hard and the medicine cat is thrown out of his mind. :He tells the apprentices that they can leave. They are soon found in the clearing retelling the story to Poppyfrost, their mother. She is terrified at the thought of a fox lingering and clamors for Brambleclaw to do something, and Brambleclaw desperately tells Poppyfrost to calm down, but the she-cat does the opposite. Ivypool is suddenly beside Jayfeather and she tells everyone that she probably sent the fox into their territory, and recounts how she and Jayfeather had found marigold plants eaten by rabbits, so she put fox dung on a stick to scare away the rabbits. She ends by saying how the fox must have lured itself into the territory because of the dung's smell. :Cloudtail and Poppyfrost are angry, but Lionblaze defends Ivypool, and Sorreltail agrees with his words. Firestar ends the conversation abruptly. Jayfeather goes to find Dovewing and pesters her about what happened. Dovewing is next to furious and tells him not to expect her to look after the entire Clan. Lionblaze then comes over to Jayfeather and they talk. Jayfeather tells his brother that he thinks the apprentices are telling the truth, contrary to his Clanmates' beliefs. Jayfeather continues on, and Lionblaze eventually agrees. They reach the secret conclusion that 'she' might return after all. Characters Major }} Minor *Cherrypaw *Molepaw *Briarlight *Sorreltail *Rosepetal *Foxleap *Brightheart *Firestar *Brambleclaw *Thornclaw *Dovewing *Ivypool *Poppyfrost *Berrynose }} Mentioned *Sedgewhisker *Leafpool *Graystripe *Hazeltail *Cloudtail *Brackenfur }} Notes and references Category:Chapter subpages Category:The Forgotten Warrior Category:Omen of the Stars arc